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With billions of computers in existence, cyberspace, 'the virtual world created when they are connected,' is said to be the new medium of power. Computer hackers operating from anywhere can enter cyberspace and take control of other people's computers, stealing their information, corrupting their workings, and shutting them down. Modern societies and militaries, both pervaded by computers, are supposedly at risk. As Conquest in Cyberspace explains, however, information systems and information itself are too easily conflated, and persistent mastery over the former is difficult to achieve.
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P1: KNP 0521871603pre CUNY751/Libicki 0 521 87160 3 March 14, 2007 This page intentionally left blank ii 0:21 P1: KNP 0521871603pre CUNY751/Libicki 0 521 87160 3 March 14, 2007 0:21 CONQUEST IN CYBERSPACE The global Internet has served primarily as an arena for peaceful commerce. Some analysts have become concerned that cyberspace could be used as a potential domain of warfare, however. Martin C. Libicki argues that the possibilities of hostile conquest are less threatening than these analysts suppose. It is in fact difficult to take control of other people’s information systems, corrupt their data, and shut those systems down. Conversely, there is considerable untapped potential to influence other people’s use of cyberspace, as computer systems are employed and linked in new ways over time. The author explores both the potential for and limitations to information warfare, including its use in weapons systems and in command-and-control operations as well as in the generation of “noise.” He also investigates how far “friendly conquest” in cyberspace extends, such as the power to persuade users to adopt new points of view. Libicki observes that friendly conquests can in some instances make hostile conquests easier or at least prompt distrust among network partners. He discusses the role of public policy in managing the conquest and defense of cyberspace and shows how cyberspace is becoming more ubiquitous and complex. Martin C. Libicki, a senior policy analyst at the RAND Corporation since 1998, works on the relationship between information technology and national security. He has written numerous monographs on the subject, notably What Is Information Warfare, The Mesh and the Net: Speculations on Armed Conflict in a Time of Free Silicon, and Who Runs What in the Global Information Grid. Dr. Libicki is also the editor of the RAND textbook New Challenges: New Tools for Defense Decisionmaking. His most recent assignments at RAND have been to generate novel information system capabilities for counterinsurgency and to develop a post-9/11 information technology strategy for the U.S. Department of Justice and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Terrorist Information Awareness program; to conduct an information security analysis for the FBI; to investigate targeting strategies of al Qaeda; and to assess the CIA’s research and development venture, In-Q-Tel. He previously worked at the National Defense University, was on the Navy Staff as program sponsor for industrial preparedness, and was a policy analyst for the Government Accountability Office’s Energy and Minerals Division. Dr. Libicki received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1978. i P1: KNP 0521871603pre CUNY751/Libicki 0 521 87160 3 March 14, 2007 0:21 Conquest in Cyberspace National Security and Information Warfare MARTIN C. LIBICKI The RAND Corporation iii CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published